The term "lunch hour" is a bit of a misnomer, as the meal break for most wage earners varies in length. Lunch and rest breaks are only lightly regulated on the federal level under the Fair Labor Standards Act. States have variable regulations regarding meal breaks and how they relate to hours worked and wages earned.

Federal Laws

Breaks are not mandatory under the FLSA, and therefore employers are under no obligation to allow employees to take a lunch break. The FLSA does specify that short rest periods of 20 minutes or less, if they are granted, must be considered time worked and employees must be paid for those breaks. If the employer gives meal breaks, then the meal period must be at least 30 minutes long and the employee must, without restriction, be relieved of all work duties during this time. Employers are not obligated to compensate employees for these lunch breaks unless the employees perform active or passive work-related duties during their breaks.

State Laws

Some states impose stricter regulations governing meal breaks. California, for example, requires a half-hour minimum lunch break after five hours, unless the employee is scheduled to work fewer than six hours that day. Additionally, work periods that are more than 10 hours long require a second meal break of at least 30 minutes. North Dakota and New Hampshire laws both require a half-hour meal break for workdays that are a minimum of five hours long. Connecticut and Delaware also mandate 30-minute lunch breaks, but only for workdays that are a minimum of seven-and-a-half hours.

Minor Employees

Specific regulations governing employed minors and lunch breaks exist in 35 jurisdictions, including Guam and Puerto Rico. If minors are covered by two regulations regarding lunch breaks, employers must observe the standard most beneficial to the employee. In some states, like Michigan, there are no requirements to provide lunch breaks for adults, but employers must give minors a 30-minute lunch period after five hours of continuous work.

Industry-Specific State Laws

Some states do not require a general standard of a 30-minute lunch across all industries but make specific provisions for particular jobs, often in agriculture and manufacturing. For example, seasonal farm workers in Pennsylvania must be given a 30-minute meal period after five straight hours of work, and Wisconsin migrant workers receive a similar meal period after six hours. In New York, factory workers are entitled by statute to a one-hour meal period at noon.

About the Author

Jeffrey Joyner has had numerous articles published on the Internet covering a wide range of topics. He studied electrical engineering after a tour of duty in the military, then became a freelance computer programmer for several years before settling on a career as a writer.